OP-ED: Sen. Folmer's 'Promise to Pennsylvania'

Does this sound familiar: excessive taxes, government officials not following laws, and lack of due process? How do we address these issues?

In June 1215, the English reaction to such problems caused by King John resulted in the signing of the Magna Carta, a precursor to both the U.S. Constitution and our Bill of Rights.

The Magna Carta embraces a number of principles of law, including the means for obtaining a fair hearing of complaints, freedom of the church, seizure and protection of property, fixed locations for lawsuits and administration of justice, right of trial (with credible witnesses), protections against denying or delaying rights or justice, trade protections, and protections against seizure or imprisonment, stripping of rights or possessions, outlawing or exiling, or depriving of standing except by lawful judgment by equals or the law of the land.

The Magna Carta also establishes remedies for excessive taxes: "no 'scutage' or 'aid' [tax] may be levied in our kingdom without its general consent ... " Over time, this principle evolved into the concept of no taxation without representation, used by the American colonists to protest taxes imposed by the English Parliament.

Nearly 800 years later, Americans are dealing with many of the same issues faced by the English during the reign of King John. While much less significant, my "Promise to Pennsylvania" also seeks to limit government authority by restraining taxation, arbitrary government actions and assaults upon due process (especially property rights).

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The Promise to Pennsylvania does this through legislative and political reforms, tax and spending reforms, and legal and labor law reforms. The following bills are among the many I have introduced to advance the Promise to Pennsylvania: